Movies: Past, present and future

LAFF 2010: The cast of 'The Kids Are All Right' goes downtown (VIDEO)

June 18, 2010 | 1:58pm

Before the Lakers-inspired bedlam erupted Thursday night in downtown Los Angeles, an eager crowd gathered at L.A. Live's new Regal Cinemas to kick off the opening night of the Los Angeles Film Festival. The 10-day event launched with a screening of Lisa Cholodenko's family dramedy "The Kids Are All Right," the Sundance hit about a lesbian couple (played by Julianne Moore and Annette Bening)
whose two teenage kids (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) decide to
track down their sperm-donor dad (Mark Ruffalo).

The gang was all there Thursday, minus Bening, who bowed out for personal reasons. We caught up with the cast on the red carpet, where everyone seemed excited that the LA-centric film (shot largely in Venice and Echo Park) was premiering in the City of Angels.

"This movie, I think, is the exact perfect movie for the L.A. Film
Festival," said Ruffalo, who had wife Sunrise Coigney by his side. "It’s a really great script. It’s a difficult script. Really
well-polished. It has a lot of great humor in it. And it’s done for
nothing. We worked very quickly with a very small budget. And I think
that’s what the L.A. Film Festival is all about, at its best. [Film Independent head] Dawn
Hudson, I know -- that’s what she has in mind by creating this festival."

The movie is already being considered an early awards contender by some critics, and that buzz is exciting for its star Moore.

"You certainly feel the interest, and that’s what you want," she
told us. "You make movies hoping that people are going to enjoy them
and go to see them. And this one, certainly, they’re saying, 'Oh, I
want to see it, I want to see it, I want to see it.' So, yeah, that
makes us very glad."

Lots of that buzz coming out of the theater Thursday revolved
around the performance of Mia Wasikowska, the up-and-coming 20-year-old
Australian actress. In the film, her character has to deal with
sometimes overbearing parents who are finding it difficult to let go as
she heads off to college.

"All parents kind of go through a degree of that," Wasikowska said
on the carpet. "They’re different from my parents and also very
similar. There’s kind of that point in your life where you feel
yourself you’re going off on your own path. Yeah, I’ve experienced
that. Because my family lives in Australia, so coming out here, every
time I come out here is kind of a bit like that."

But Josh Hutcherson, the 17-year old who plays Wasikowska's brother in the film, said he didn't relate as much to his character -- a rebellious teen.

"I’m not a rebellious kid at all. I’ve always been a perfect little angel," he joked (we think). "I’m sure my mom and dad would not say the same. But I don’t think I’ve rebelled that much. I think every teenager goes through some sort of rebellious phase when they’re trying to figure out who they are exactly, and that’s just natural. And the fact that that’s in the film just makes it a little more real."